Georgia Southern University’s Waters College of Health Professions has established a new research center that will bring together faculty and student researchers in the human movement sciences to improve the health and quality of life for individuals in the coastal Georgia region.
The Center for Rehabilitation and Independent Living (CRIL) will offer specialized services to include clinical gait screenings, sport-specific, athletic movement analyses, concussion assessment, overuse injury prevention methods and evaluations of daily activity performances for clinical populations.
Gavin Colquitt, Ed.D., executive director of the center, explained that by combining the expertise of faculty in the human movement sciences and clinical rehabilitation, the CRIL aims to engage key community partners and promote interdisciplinary research.
“We hope to engage an array of partners – rehabilitation clinics, school districts, the military and first responders – to assess their specific needs and then develop programs to meet those needs,” Colquitt said.
Although the CIRL is new, many of the services and programs have a longer history. Programs such as Camp RAD and Super Eagles, which provide inclusive fitness and transition skills training for young people with disabilities, will now be housed under the center’s umbrella.
“The center will enable us to create additional opportunities for our researchers to collaborate with local clinicians,” Colquitt said. “We plan to work with physical therapists, athletic trainers, and local physicians to enhance our public impact research mission to the region.”
